Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has once again sent the file concerning the doorstep delivery of the ration scheme to the Lieutenant-Governor.

Last week, in a major setback to the Central government and the Lieutenant-Governor, the Delhi High Court allowed the Delhi government to conditionally implement the doorstep delivery scheme for ration in Delhi after which the Chief Minister sent its proposal to the L-G.

Kejriwal has appealed to the L-G that after the High Court’s permission to implement the scheme, he should also approve the implementation of the decision of the Delhi Cabinet so that the people of the city can get the doorstep delivery of their ration soon.

Hearing a writ petition on 27 September, the High Court modified its order dated 22 March 2021. The court allowed the Delhi government to implement the scheme and deduct the supply being given to fair price shops (FPS) in proportion to the beneficiaries opting for doorstep delivery. The court, in its order, has also said that the doorstep delivery model was optional for the beneficiaries and they can choose to go back to the ration distribution system through the FPS.

Kejriwal said now that the High Court has cleared the way for the implementation of the doorstep delivery of the ration scheme, the Delhi government will sincerely follow the directions given by the court regarding the scheme. He expressed the hope that the Lt-Governor will review his decision so that the orders of the High Court can be implemented.

Earlier, the Chief Minister had said, “People are asking if pizza, burger, smartphones, and clothes can be home-delivered, then why can the poor citizens of Delhi not get their share of ration home-delivered?”

He had also remarked about how strong the ration mafia syndicate in Delhi was and how the entire doorstep delivery scheme would be instrumental in disbanding it.

It is noteworthy that there is a dispute going on for a long time between the Kejriwal government and the Lieutenant-Governor regarding the implementation of the doorstep delivery of ration scheme. The Delhi government says it is committed to ensuring the people’s welfare and will do its best to implement the doorstep ration delivery scheme while the L-G and the Central government oppose it.

The Delhi government was about to start the scheme but the Central government through the L-G got it stopped a week before it could be launched.

However, on 27 September, the High Court allowed the Delhi government to implement this scheme.